BEAUMONT, May 15, 2012 - The Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) 11th annual Click It or Ticket safety belt enforcement campaign will take place May 21 through June 3. State and local law enforcement will be working overtime to ensure motorists and passengers are following Texas seat belt laws. Seat belt violations could result in fines and court costs of up $250 or more.

While seat belt use in Texas is up over the last decade, seat belt use among pickup truck drivers and passengers continues to lag. In 2011, only 80.3 percent of pickup truck passengers used seat belts as compared to 92.4 percent of passengers in other vehicles. In 2011, one out of every two pickup truck drivers killed in a traffic crash in Texas was not wearing a seat belt. Approximately one out of every four vehicles registered in Texas is a pickup truck.

According to the Texas Transportation Institute, 93.7 percent of Texas drivers and passengers now buckle up. Experts at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimate that the 11-year-old Click It or Ticket initiative has resulted in 2,843 fewer traffic fatalities, 48,000 fewer serious injuries and a savings to the state of more than $10 billion in associated costs.

To ensure that Texans comply with seat belt laws, thousands of state troopers will join police officers and sheriffs’ deputies statewide during a stepped-up enforcement period between May 21 and June 3, including the Memorial Day holiday weekend, to ticket drivers and passengers who aren’t buckled up.